online medical dictionary | definition of aisle

A lateral division of a building, separated from the middle part, called the nave, by a row of columns or piers, which support the roof or an upper wall containing windows, called the clearstory wall.

Improperly used also for the have; as in the phrases, a church with three aisles, the middle aisle.

Also (perhaps from confusion with alley), a passage into which the pews of a church open.

Origin: OF. Ele, F. Aile, wing, wing of a building, L. Ala, contr. Fr. Axilla.

(01 Mar 1998)